Lange departs 'Extra' after wife joins rival
Conflict of interest contested
Details of Lange's departure were murky Wednesday. Reps for WB would not comment, but knowledgeable sources said Lange was fired Monday over a conflict-of-interest issue.
The conflict was understood to revolve around Lange's wife, Terry Wood, taking a programming job with Paramount's syndie arm, where she would be involved with Par syndie skeins that compete with "Extra."
Legal eagles say employment pacts frequently call for execs to disclose potential conflicts of interest involving family members, although there's precious little an employer can legally do in such a situation but insist on full disclosure. In Lange's case, sources said, there is a dispute over whether he told studio brass of his wife's new job.
Insiders said Lange's future with "Extra" had been questionable ever since another veteran syndie newsmag producer, Sheila Sitomer, was recruited in July to serve as co-exec producer with Lange. Lange, a local TV news vet, had been with "Extra" since July 1997.
